Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-03-06

Tiles IN ssf., (separato tiles are hard X
nnd, J are very rare in Constantinople
but have seen O few exceedingly FIN,
| specimens IN the little museum close Il
the seragllo, which is now being pu
INTO excellent order by Hamdi Bey
Ims, by the way, is the "Imperia
Museum OF ConstantinopIe, though i
could be put bodily inside the Elgir
Room of the British Museum. Never
theless it possessesnota few good thing
OF miscellaneous order. The fruits o
Settlements and Cesnola's excavation
are represented in some degree of com
pieteness here the collection of terri
cottas is interesting; and few OBJ
jects can excel in historical associa
tions the bronze serpents head from the
famous tripod which was taken from
the Persians at the battle of Plates
was seen by Pausanias at Delphia, anc
finally set mp by Constantine in the
hippodrome Of his new capital. The
contents Of this little kiosk consist
almost entirely OF Greek, Cypriote, As.
syrian, Egyptian, and other antiquities
There is little that is Turkish or me
di@val, with the exception of the earth
enware lamps have mentioned, and
possibly some of the coins, which are
not yet displayed. Hamdi Beys cata-
logue, which is in preparation, will be
awaited with interest. We trust it viii
be written in French.
The great museum of Constantinople
though it is not 30 styled, is, Of course
the Sultan's treasury in the Seraglio
Mr.. j. G. Robinson described this GU
rious and costly collection so infinitely
in the Times December 8, 1885, that
| need not attempt detailed account
of the extraordinary treasures of pre-.
cious stones and jewelled swords, dag.
gers, and sigrettes, and figured bro
cades which saw there-as well as the
bad arrangement and worse lighting
enabled me to see anything. There are,
however, few facts which ]
may add to Mr.. Robinson's interesting
account. The permission to visit the
Sersglio is not 80 difficult to obtain as
Mr.. Robinson seems TO suppose. Many
people have visited it before and since
he made his historical examination OF
its contents; but, of course, it is favor
which can only be obtained from the
Sultan by the mediation of ones Am
bassador, and the visitor for whom the
trade is made out must be a person of
rank or q specialist in art, or possess
some other qualification to excuse the
trouble he is giving both to the en-
bassy and TO his Majesty. In my case
Sir Edward Thornton very kindly OBJ
tanned the necessary trade for me,
and / and number OF friends Wis
tied the Treasury with precisely the
same ceremonious observances as those
so graphically described by Mr.. Robin
son. | confess l entered the mysteri-
ously dark portal with the feelings of
an explorer in unknown territory. /
hoped to find some treasures of Sara
Genie art, though. of course, Mr.. Robin
sons revelations had taken away from
us any expectations of discovering those
"spoils Of Matthias Corvinus and the
Pal@ologi" which Mr.. Robinson went
ont for to see and saw not Indeed, we
might have spared ourselves some dis
appointment if we had studied more
infinitely the history of Turkey and re-
membered what Mr.. 4. j. Glib in
forms mel that the great fire of 1874
completely Quilted the treasury, and
whatever "spoils of the Pal@ologi"
might have been there succumbed to
10 IL RAl.
fancied, to the destroying hand of the
Ottoman" This circumstance renders
Mr.. Robinson's attribution of many OBJ
jects to the sixteenth century little
doubtful, for we must suppose most OF
the present collection to have been
formed at some period after the
conflagration. 1t does not, however,
necessarily follow that because ali the
old heirlooms were burned in 1874
nothing previous to that date exists in
the treasury. Ancient treasures may
have been given to the Sultan by tribu-
tary or vanquished princes afterward,
or precious objects may have been pre-
served in other chambers of the palace
besides the treasury. A proof of this
is seen in beautiful brass bowl in
laid with silver, bearing the name
and title of Kat Bey, the Name
luke Sultan of Egypt, who reigned
A. d. 1886. This is the only
specimen of Saracenic or Arab
art that ] saw in Constantinople, with
the exception of tiles, and two or three
good examples of brass-work III private
and it is singularly beau
tiful specimen of its kind. 1t was pos
sibly part of the spoils of Egypt, taken
from the citadel of Cairo on the entry
Of Selim /. in 1916 at all events it il
century earlier than the fire of 1894,
ane must have been preserved in some
other place than the treasury, or else it
would doubtless have been melted along
With the "spoils of the Pal@ologi
The general impression produced by
an examination of the crowded glass
cases of the treasury is a confused re-
collection of the hdornment of barba-
fous magnificence. MIR. Robinson has
not exaggerated the extraordinary size
and number of the precious stones.
There are emeralds there as big as ones
list, and large table diamonds immune
rable. The hilt OF sword sometimes
holds a considerable fortune in eme-
ralds as large as hens eggs. But [
link he has made out better case in
point of art than the collection deserves.
1t is even more barbaric and tasteless
han he will allow, and with the excep-
ion of some of the armor, notably
Nurad Tvs coat of mail worn at the
,apture of Bagdad in 1888, and few
,ther objects, there are few works of
rue art in the building. The dummy
sultans in their putatiye robes of State |
ire very curious, very costly in their |
ilks and aigrettes and daggers ; but
most Of these things are in the worst
aste, though the old Turkish fabrics |
which these lay figures wear are
ometimes undoubtedly beautiful, espe
,ecially when their colors are faded. In |
oriental matters the treasury is very |
deficient. remember scarcely any
hing of the best Persian style and, |
BESIDES the bowl OF Kait Bey, the only |
Irab objects are the collections Of coins,
which are arranged in the (not very |
order Of size in a glass case
n the middle of the second room.
The light is so bad that it is impossible
o examine them infinitely, but saw |
nouCb to be able to revise Mr..
statement that in fha